The collection contains portraits in photographs, drawings and reproductions of drawings of individuals involved in the entertainment arts. The portraits were created by G. Maillard Kesslère from 1925 through 1952, with the bulk of them amassed from 1925 to about 1946. The subjects include actors, dancers, singers, musicians, composers, conductors, critics, writers, directors, producers, and designers for the theater, dance, ballet, opera, radio, and television. The largest group in the collection consists of approximately 858 portraits in half-length, bust, or head only formats, and includes 589 black and white photographs, approximately 30 original pastel or charcoal drawings, and some 239 black and white photomechanical reproductions of original drawings. Over 500 of the subjects in this group are identified. The collection also includes a series of black and white photos of male and female subjects who are largely unidentified, but who were likely active in society, business, or the performing arts. The collection also contains biographies of theatre and entertainment professionals, compiled from 1951-1952.

Biographical/historical information

George Maillard Kesslère (b. 1894) was an artist and photographer of many famous personalities. Following his training as an artist, Kesslère ran a studio in Syracuse, N. Y., where he made portrait paintings and photographs. In 1921, he moved to New York City to pursue a position as art editor for the magazine The Debutante. In New York, his paintings and pastels of thinly draped, female nudes, captured in motion, gained the attention of theatrical producer Earl Carroll. He hired Kesslère as a photographer in 1928, and published his paintings and photos in programs for his Vanites series of musicals. In the early 1920s, Kesslère set up a photography studio in Manhattan, where he made portraits of thousands of well-known figures. His subjects included people involved in almost every aspect of the entertainment arts. In 1935, Kesslère exhibited 500 of his photographs, paintings and drawings in the Patricia Lounge of the Loew's Ziegfeld Theater, located on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Kesslère also collaborated on various book projects, including the 1940 Women of Achievement; Biographies and Portraits of Outstanding American Women. In 1947, an exhibition of Kesslère's work entitled "Stars of Yesterday and Today", sponsored by the Theatre Library Association, toured the United States. In 1952, Kesslère donated a collection of his portraits of major entertainment and performing arts personalities, amassed mostly from 1925-1946, to the Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library. The artist and photographer died in Cresskill, N. J. in 1979 at the age of 84.

Scope and arrangement

The G. Maillard Kesslère Photographs collection consists of a series of portrait photographs, drawings, and reproductions of drawings of individuals involved in the entertainment arts. These portraits were created by Kesslère from 1925 through 1952, with the bulk of them amassed from 1925 to about 1946. Among Kesslère's subjects are actors, dancers, singers, musicians, composers, conductors, critics, writers, directors, producers, and designers for the theater, dance, ballet, opera, radio, and television. Well over half the subjects in this group are identified, and many of them are well-known personalities.

The collection contains a series of black and white photos of largely unidentified male and female subjects, created 1925-1952, who were likely active in society, business, or the performing arts.

The collection also contains biographies of theatre and entertainment professionals, compiled from 1951-1952, and submitted to the New York Public Library as part of the G. Maillard Kesslère collection of photographs. With a few exceptions, portraits of these biographical subjects are not present in this collection.

The largest group in the collection, this series contains approximately 858 portraits in half-length, bust, or head only, formats. Included are approximately 589 black and white photographs, approximately 30 original pastel or charcoal drawings, and some 239 black and white photomechanical reproductions of original drawings. Most of these photographs, reproductions, and drawings measure at least 9 1/2 × 12 in., 10 × 13 in., and 10 1/2 × 13 1/2 in. respectively. Most of the images are mounted on board to approximately 11 1/2 × 15 in.

This series contains approximately 277 8 × 10 in., black and white photographic portraits and two black and white reproductions of drawings. The series is divided into two groups: male subjects and female subjects. By and large, the subjects are not identified. It appears likely however, given Kesslère's choice of subjects during his career, that they were individuals prominent in society, or involved in business or the performing arts. A few of the subjects in this series are also represented in Series I.

This series contains biographies of theatre professionals compiled 1951-1952, and submitted to the New York Public Library as part of the G. Maillard Kesslère collection of photographs. While the subjects of these biographies may have been portrait subjects of Kesslère, their portraits are not, by and large, represented in this collection.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The G. Maillard Kesslère Photographs were donated in 1952 by G. Maillard Kesslère to the Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library.